The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
by ajieflu
Summary: In the kingdom of Hyrule, a youth named Link sets out on a quest to defeat the thief Ganondorf from breaking into the Sacred Realm and obtaining the divine relic, the Triforce. Due to unforeseen circumstances, however, Ganondorf successfully obtains part of the Triforce. By traveling back and forth through time using the mythical Master Sword, Link must restore peace to Hyrule.
1. Prologue

_The Great Deku Tree_

_In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule, long have I served as the guardian spirit…I am known as the Deku Tree…The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me. Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy. However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy…_

"Navi…Navi, where art thou? Come hither…" And after only a few short moments a tiny ball of white light flew into my enclosure. As Navi grew closer I was able to make out her figure.

She bowed and said, "You called, Great Deku Tree?"

"Oh, Navi the fairy…listen to my words, the words of the Great Deku Tree! Dost thou sense it? The climate of evil descending upon this realm…Malevolent forces, even now, are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule…

"For over an age the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier to deter outsiders and maintaining the order of the world…

"But…before this tremendous evil power, even my power is as nothing…It seems the time has finally come for theboy without a fairy to begin his journey…The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth…

"Navi…go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me…I do not have much time left. Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest—nay, the world—depends upon thee!"


	2. Chapter 1

_Link_

Darkness.

All there was was darkness.

I was asleep, but it didn't feel like it—I was unwillingly alive in a nightmare. I could feel my heart pounding in my rapidly heaving chest; I could taste the almost palpable fear in the air.

_CRASH!_

I jumped and turned around, dreading what I'd see. A drawbridge was lowering to the ground, but before it descended completely, a white horse jumped out from the opening, carrying two riders. They were moving too fast, but the girl and I were able to share a glance at the other. I could feel her terror, her anger, her sadness. A few seconds later and they were both gone, but another horse and rider took their place beside me. I yelped and stepped back, dwarfed by a giant black horse ridden by a face I would never forget, even if it existed only in my dreams.

The rider frantically, but professionally, looked around, presumably for the white horse that ran past me only moments ago. I saw his body tense up as he blew out a sigh to calm his rage. His head slowly turned down and our eyes met. His eyes were black, bottomless and evil, his face an even uglier sight to see. His grim mouth started forming words and throwing them at me, but all I could do was shake my head in panic, willing to do anything to wake up.

I blinked and suddenly I was on my tree-bed, staring at the sheet that covered my doorway. Everything was black, everywhere was darkness. It was still in the middle of the night. I shivered through my sweat and rolled over, praying to slip into a dreamless sleep then, now that the nightmare was over. That's how it normally was, the past several weeks. And the nightmare was always the same. The bridge, the girl, the bad man. Their faces were forever etched into the recesses of my mind, screaming their words of terror and longing, and I had no idea why.

What was happening to me?

_Navi_

I immediately turned around and flew as fast as I could from the Great Deku Tree's enclosure after he relayed to me my mission. I was going to be a Guardian! For the last fifty years I had been training and preparing for this day, yet for some reason I was scared. And for a split second more I was tempted to fly back to the enclosure and tell the Great Deku Tree to find another fairy—I just wasn't ready!

I slowed down and let my wings hold me for a moment, so I was hovering just above the ground. I chewed my lip—a bad habit I had developed. "Well, Navi," I tell myself, "What is it going to be? Are you going to go back and tell him 'no'? What will he think of you then? Hmm?" I hovered for a moment more, then mentally slapped myself. "You can do this, Navi. Ok. Go." And with that, I continued onward to find the boy without a fairy.

Once the pass was behind me and I entered the village, I suddenly realised that I had no idea where I was going! _Naturally. Always leave it to me to get lost during a most important task._

As my eyes continued to sweep the area, I saw a fellow fairy flying in circles above the Shop's overhang. That must've meant there was a Kokiri child there as well.

See, the Kokiri are a special, and rare, race. No one knows of their exact origin, but one thing that is known for sure is that they have existed for centuries. They are ageless, forever remaining in their youth and maintaining their free, playful spirits. They are afraid to leave the forest; for fear that they will die if they don't remain under its power. The Kokiri are invisible to non-Kokiri; they will only be seen if they choose to be seen (which is almost always anyhow as they do live safely in their village). But in any case, they can never be seen until approached, the only indication of their presence their Guardian.

"Hello!" I called out as I approached the now-visible female Kokiri.

She looks up and finds me, smiling. "Hello there, fairy! Can I help you with something?"

"Yes! Yes you can! You see, I've just come from the Great Deku Tree, and I am looking for a boy named Link. Would you happen to know where he is?"

Her eyes grew wide with excitement. "No way! Is little Link finally getting a Guardian?!" I happily nodded. She clapped her hands and bounced up and down. "Yay! I'm so happy for him! He's been waiting for far too long and has been the only Kokiri in the whole forest not to have one for this long!"

I felt a brief pang in my heart. "Well, then, I'm glad I'm here!"

She stopped bouncing and quieted down. "He will be, too." She points to the right. "You see that tree house down that way?" I nod. "Yep! That's where he is! Good luck!"

I nodded and bowed in thanks, then headed right, down the path. I missed the turn, so I tried to correct and took a sharp turn to the left, but ended up running smack into the wooden fence! I rubbed my head. "OW!"

I shook it off, and, carefully that time flew through one of the square openings in the fence and made my way up the tree and into Link's house.

And there he was, all sprawled out on top of his tree-bed, deep in sleep. His face was not in the peaceful form it should be when a person normally sleeps; he looked afraid. I flew over to him. "Hello, Link! Wake up! The Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you!" He didn't move. "Link! Get up!" He shivered and rolled over onto his side. I started flying in circles above his head and yelled, "Hey! C'mon! Wake up!" _Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?!_

He yawned and turned over, and his eyes found me. He threw his legs over the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes, which were glaring at me.

"Yay! You finally woke up! I'm Navi the fairy!"

He looked at me questioningly. "What do you want?"

"The Great Deku Tree asked me to be your partner from now on! Nice to meet you!" Link's eyes lit up and he smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen.

"Really? You really mean it?"

I laughed. "Yes! But we can do introductions later. The Great Deku Tree has summoned you! So let's get going—right now!"

_Link_

A fairy? The Great Deku Tree?! This was the best day ever! I could almost think I was dreaming—but there she was, _my_ fairy, just hovering by _my_ doorway! I sprung out of bed and bounded outside, leaving my nightmare in my house to dissipate into the nothingness it should be. Navi followed behind me.

"Yahoo!" I looked down and saw Saria waving at me while running down my path. Wow, today really was a good day! "Hi Link!" She stopped at the bottom of the ladder.

Immediately I felt a smile grow on my face, pushing away any and all remaining residue from the night. Quickly, I made my way down the ladder and gave her a tight hug. "Hi, Saria! How are you?"

"Great!" Her eyes widened as they noticed Navi hovering beside me. "Wow! A fairy! Finally a fairy came to you, Link!" She covered her mouth and squealed, "Wow! That's such great news! I'm so happy for you!" She sucked in a deep breath after she finished her rant and gave me another hug. We both laughed. She pulled away and looked me in the eye. "Now you're a _true_ Kokiri, Link!"

"Yeah, I know!" I exclaimed. "Oh, and to make my day even better, guess what? The Great Deku Tree asked to see me! I'm on my way right now, actually." I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, hardly able to contain my excitement—I was just itching to get going!

"Is that right? The Great Deku Tree has summoned you?" I nodded enthusiastically. It's quite an honour to speak to the Great Deku Tree!" She smiled happily. "Well, I won't keep you any longer! I'll wait for you here. Get going! Go see The Great Deku Tree!" She then practically shooed me away.

"Bye!" I waved behind me as I ran up the trail and into the village. And I kept on running—past Jaceout in front of Mido's house, trying to "de-rock" his lawn, past the twins' grass-covered trunk, and past Amelia sitting atop the shop overhang, only to be stopped by Mido. He was standing right in front of the trail that led to The Great Deku Tree's enclosure. I tried again to get by, but he moved in front of me, placed his hands on his hips and glared at me through slits.

"Excuse me, Mido, I need to get through. I'm going to—"

"'To see The Great Deku Tree'—I know!" He said mockingly, cutting me off. "Hey, you! 'Mr. No Fairy!' What's your business with the Great Deku Tree? Without a fairy, you're not even a real man!"

"Excuse me?" Navi flew in front of his face.

Mido's eyes grew wide and he took a step back. "What?! You've got a fairy?! "

Navi backed up a little, crossed her arms and said matter-of-factly, "Yep! And he's also been summoned by the Great Deku Tree himself, so if you—"

"Say what?" Mido interrupted, "The Great Deku Tree actually summoned you?" he laughed. "Whaaaaaaaat?!" Mido stopped laughing and was suddenly angry. It was my turn to step backwards some. "Why would he summon _you_ and not the great Mido? Hmm? This isn't funny…" He placed his hands back on his hips and stomped his foot. "Not funny at all…I don't believe it! You aren't even fully equipped yet!"

"I'm sorry, what do you mean by 'equipped'?" I said tentatively.

He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Really? How do you think you're going to help the Great Deku Tree without both a sword and shield ready?"

"Then where's _your_ readied sword and shield, Mido?" Navi retorted.

"What? You're right. I don't have my equipment ready," he mumbled. "But! If you want to pass through here, you should at _least_ equip a sword and shield!" He shook his head. "Sheesh!"

"But where am I supposed to get either of those?" I asked shyly.

"How am I supposed to know?! You figure it out. " And with that, Mido turned around and marched back to his post, resuming his stance.

Navi flew in front of me. "Hey! C'mon, Link. No need to argue any with that twat. Let's go find that sword and shield so you can go to your meeting with the Great Deku Tree. We mustn't keep him waiting too long!"

I let out a sigh. "You're right. Let's see…maybe Arle has one of them in his shop!" Quickly, I headed over to Arle's giant tree-shop.

"Hey Link!" I looked off to the side and saw Lena waving at me.

"Hello, Leyna." I bowed. "Good morning."

She giggled. "Good morning to you, too."

I turned and went to the counter, where Arle was futilely trying to peer over the top, despite it obviously being too tall for him. "Good…morning…Link!" he said between breaths. "What can…I…get for you…today?"

I couldn't help but laugh. I leaned over so I could see him. "Um I was wondering if you had any swords or shields I could, um, have?"

By this point Arle had given up his fruitless attempt and he just stood there, giving me a weird look. "What would a lad like you need with a sword, let alone a shield?"

I hesitated. He had a point—what _do_ I need with them? Are they just to please Mido? "Uh…just a shield then? Can't do any harm with that, can I?"

"'Suppose not…" He disappeared underneath his counter for a few minutes, and then resurfaced, coughing. He reached up and slid a wooden shield onto the counter. It had the mark of the Kokiri carved into it in red. "Here you are then."

"Aw, it's beautiful!" Navi flew around and examined it.

"Yeah it is—so don't go being reckless with it, ya hear! Oh, and be sure not to get it near fire, seeing as it's wood and all!"

I slowly slid it off the counter and hooked it to my back. Smiling, I said, "Of course, Arle! What do I owe you?"

He swiped his hand. "Don't worry about it, kid. Have fun with…whatever you're doing!"

"Thanks!" I said as I ran back outside. "Ok, Navi. I got the shield, now I just need the sword." Looking around the village I asked, "Where do you think I get it, Navi?"

She folded her arms and started biting her lip. "I don't know, Link. Why don't we just ask around? There are a bunch of the Kokiri children out today."

"Yeah. Ok." Absent-mindedly, I head back to my tree house, where Saria is waiting for me.

Saria got up and smiled. "Hey Link! How'd it go?"

My shoulders slumped. "It didn't. Mido won't let me into the enclosure."

"What? Mido won't let you through? Ohh…That bum! I don't know why he's always so mean to everyone! Why won't he let you through?"

Navi flew out and chimed in, "Mido said that Link couldn't protect the Great Deku Tree if he isn't 'fully equipped.' But I don't understand, Link is just going to talk to the Great Deku Tree—why does he need to be 'equipped?' I think it's ridiculous."

Saria placed her hands on her lips and looked at me worriedly. "It may be ridiculous, but what he said is true." I raised an eyebrow at her. _Seriously? Saria is siding with him?_ She sighed. "The forest…strange things have been happening here lately…you need to be ready for anything. You'd better find a weapon!" She noticed the shield on my back. "I was going to tell you that you could get a shield at Arle's but it looks like you already have. Good!"

"And what about a sword, Saria?" asked Navi.

"There is only one sword here in the forest, but it's hidden. You'd have to go look and find it."

"Any suggestions on where to look?" I asked nervously.

She was quiet and thought for a moment. "Well, there is no way that it is in the Lost Woods, I would know. The only other place I would think to look around is the Hill."

"Isn't that the Forest Training Centre?"

Saria nodded.

"Thanks Saria, for everything!"

She smiled and bowed. "Anytime, Link!"

I then hurried back up the path and took a left instead of right, which was the way to the shop. I waved to Selena and her fairy, who were standing at the bottom of the Hill. At the top is the biggest trunk house in all the village, occupied by "The Know-It-All Brothers." They stay isolated in their trunk and have been left to their own devices, considering all they do is correct and criticise others. But to the left of their trunk is a mini maze of fences, at the back of which was a little sparring course Miko had set up as well as a little grounded tunnel, of which no one really goes around. It was curious, yes, but at the same time pretty intimidating and unspokenly off-limits, so no one really knew what it led to. But I had a feeling that was where I needed to go.

"Hiya Link! You here for some sparring lessons from the Whirl today?" Miko punched the air several times as a demonstration.

I laughed. "Not today, Miko. Maybe some other time!" I walked over to the tunnel at the bottom of the wall. The sign to the right said "Hole of 'Z'." "Hey, uh Miko?"

"Yeah." He replied between punches.

"What does "Hole of 'Z' mean? What is 'Z'?"

He looked up at me with the most dumbfounded expression I ever saw. "Hole of z—what?"

"This sign here," I pointed to the sign. "It says "Hole of 'Z'."

Miko slowly made his way over to me and leaned down to peer at the sign. "Hole of 'Z'…Hole of 'Z'…Nope! No clue, not ringing a bell. Sorry." He started to go back to his sparring corner, but stopped. "Wait, Link, you're not actually thinking of going in there, are you? There could be monsters or other dangers in there or something!"

"What do you mean, Miko?" chimed Navi.

Like everyone before him, Miko's eyes widened in surprise. "Woa, Link there's a fairy with you!"

I nodded and smiled. "Yep! This is Navi, my Guardian!"

Navi bowed. "Hello!" Miko said 'hello' back and was about to ask Navi a question, but she cut him off. "So sorry, Miko, but we're in a bit of a hurry. What exactly did you mean by monsters or other dangers?"

He shook his head. "Oh, ok. Sorry. Well, there have been funny things happening in the forests, and no one has been in that tunnel for years, if not _ever_, so that 'weirdness' has probably happened in there as well. I'm just warning you, is all. Don't say I didn't warn you." He shrugged his shoulders and went back to practising with himself in the corner.

"Well, that's interesting. That's two people now that have said something strange is happening in the forest." I nodded in agreement. "I guess the best thing we can do now is to find that sword and take it to the Great Deku Tree so he can explain everything to us."

"Right!" And with that, I shook out my legs and arms, took a deep breath and crawled into the tunnel. I heard a shout of 'Good luck!' come from behind me, probably from little Miko. The tunnel was small and damp, but had oddly been carved out and lined with wood. Hopefully my interpretation of that as a good thing was correct. After a minute or so, I emerged out of the tunnel into a little square clearing. It let out into a small aisle of grass the stretched out on either side, and across from my little square was another, only with a bunch of grass taking up its space.

"Go on, then, Link!" Navi said encouragingly.

"I am! I guess I'm just confused? Where am I?"

"Only one way to find out," was all she said, and then she went into my hat.

I took a deep breath and turned left down the grassy aisle—"when in doubt, turn left" is something Saria always says—and only get a few paces when I heard rumbling coming from behind me. I heard a _ping_—ing noise a looked to see Navi bouncing up and down. "Link! Run!" I then turned around and saw _a huge boulder rolling directly towards me._ I did what any normal boy would in that situation—screamed at the top of my lungs and run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Running down another aisle, I frantically looked for another square clearing. "Link! Over here!" I followed Navi's shouts and rolled into the square clearing, just as the boulder rolled right over where I was moments before.

"Phew! THAT was close!" I sprawled myself out on the grass and just laid there, panting, for several minutes. When I had my breath back, I sat up and looked around the clearing where I was. My eyes grew wide as they landed on a neat looking treasure chest on a tree stump. "Navi! Come look at this!" I jumped up and ran over to it, but then hesitated. I looked up at Navi. "Is it ok if I open this?" I asked.

"Yes, Link. Go for it!"She replied.

"O-ok." Slowly I undid the latches on the chest and opened it. "Oh my gosh!" I reached for the contents of the chest, but my arm was too short. I jumped up and leaned over the front of the chest and pulled out a sword! "Oh, Navi—look! A sword!"

"Wow, Link—you got the Kokiri sword! This is a hidden treasure of the Kokiri, but you can borrow it for a while…I guess. Be sure to practise with it before you really fight!"

I couldn't think of anything else to say but "Cool." I took a deep breath. "Alright then. I guess I'll go see if 'The Whirl' would like to help me practise then!" I couldn't help but laugh. I mean, who calls themselves the Whirl?! Navi laughed too.

I am about to step out of the clearing when Navi stopped me. She flew over to the chest and pointed inside it. "Hey! Link, there's a sheath and a scabbard in here, too!"

I walked over to the chest again. "A what and a what?!" I raised an eyebrow as I peered into the chest again. Sure enough, there was a strap-looking thing and a long tube sitting at the bottom of the chest. I reached in again and grabbed them.

"That tube thing is a cover for the sword and the strap connects to it and you strap that over your back and under your shield!"

"Oh. Ok!" After a good deal of time, I finally was able to put the sword in the sheath, connect it to the scabbard and strap it to my person underneath my shield. I looked up at Navi. "We good to go now?" She nodded and I hesitantly stepped back into the grassy aisles. I looked around for several moments, being sure that none of those boulders were coming to squish me again. I hurried back to the tunnel and emerged again, and find that Miko is still there punching the air. I laughed to myself.

"Hey! Miko!"

He paused and looked in my direction. "What's up, Link?"

I sighed and replied, "Can I take you up on that offer to take a few lessons from…The Whirl." _I feel like a total idiot,_ I thought to myself.

Miko's face immediately brightened and he smiled really big. "Oh, Link! Really?" He cleared his throat. "Uh, I mean, step right up, young master and prepare the lesson of a life time!" I walked over to him and pulled out my sword. He examined it. "Nice sword. Let's work on some moves!" Miko leaned down and picked up a long stick. "This is my sword, alright? Just do what I do." He squatted into a fight stance and I did the same. "Now, this is called the 'side jump'. All you do is keep your body straight and in position and jump to the right or left. Like so." He demonstrated the side jump. "Pretty easy, right?"

"Yeah, looks so," I said. And it was.

"Ok, next move is the 'back flip'. This one is a little trickier, but easier once you get the hang of it. All you gotta do is squat down, focus all of your weight and energy into your legs. Then lean back just a bit, and swing your arms like this to help propel you backwards." I watched as he demonstrated the back flip. A little bit nervous, I did as he said and ended up falling straight on my butt. He gave me a hand up. "Hey, nice first try. Let's just try again!"

After a really long time, I was finally able to pull off a back flip. Or rather, something that _looked_ like a back flip. "Well," I said, "Close enough!"

Miko laughed. "Yeah, I'll say! Well only a few more. They're a piece of cake compared to this one." I nodded. "Ok, next is the 'jump attack'! You grasp your sword with both hands and bring it up behind your head like this." I followed his motions with my own sword. "Hey! No, Link. Face that way. I like my face I don't want you to chop it in half!" I laughed and turned to the right. He blew out a sigh. "Better. Now, kind of bend back and then jump forward, throwing your torso with you and strike downwards!"

Surprisingly I did it on my first try. "That was a fun one!"

"Yeah, that one is my favourite."

"I can see why! What's next?"

He shook his head and placed his 'sword' on the ground. "Nope! That's it! You have officially been taught by the Whirl." Miko spread out his arms and bowed to me. "Good luck with the rest of your training!"

I smiled at him. "Thank you!" And with that I ran out of his little maze of fences and back down the hill.

"Hey! Link!" I looked up at Navi as she flew out of my tunic. "You have a sword and a shieldnow. That pinhead Mido has no choice but to let us past him now!"

"Right. Let's do this." Quickly, I headed down the path and walked straight up to Mido, who held up his hand to stop me again. "Mido, please move, I need to see the Great Deku Tree!"

"Look, squirt, I already told ya: If you want to see the Great Deku Tree, you should equip a sword and a shield!" He leaned forward and his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of my back. "Eh, what's that?! Oh, you have a Deku shield…but what's THAT?!" He frantically pointed to my sheath. Is that the Kokiri sword?! GOOD GRIEF!" Mido turned his head away and tapped his foot on the ground. "Well, even _with_ all that stuff, a wimp is still a wimp!" He leaned towards me so that we were face to face. "I, the Great Mido, will _never_ accept you as one of us!" He walked to the side, clearing the way for me to pass. "Shoot! How did you get to be the favourite of Saria and the Great Deku Tree? Huh?! Ugh…" He kept grumbling as I walked past him and into the winding aisle that led to the Great Deku Tree's enclosure.

_The Great Deku Tree_

Hearing something stirring in my enclosure, I opened my eyes to see a young boy and a fairy entering.

"Great Deku Tree…I'm back!" Navi flew upwards so we were at eye level. She bowed before me. She motioned towards the boy. "This is Link, Great Deku Tree. He is the boy that you asked for." She flew back over to the open-mouthed boy, awed by my size and power.

"Oh…Navi…Thou hast returned…" I answered with labour. "Link, welcome. Listen carefully to what I, the Great Deku Tree, am about to tell thee…

"Thy slumber these past moons must have been restless, and full of nightmares…As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to those sensitive to it…Verily, thou hast felt it…

"Link…The time has come to test thy courage…I have been cursed…I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage. Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?" The boy nodded enthusiastically. _Good, the boy shows no fear…_ "Then enter, brave, young Link, and thou too, Navi…" I opened my mouth, through which they will enter into the depths of my cursed trunk. "Navi the fairy…Thou must aid Link…

"And Link…When Navi speaks, listen well to her words and wisdom…" They both nodded in acknowledgement of my words. I then closed my eyes and slipped into a deep slumber until they should return, having defeated the monsters inside me. _I am sorry, Navi, that you will not be able to save me, even should ye and the boy return triumphant…_


End file.
